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Convict to NRA: Thanks for Making It Easy for Us Criminals

Gary W. Bornman, a convict at the federal "supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, has written a thank you note to the NRA. Mr. Bornman relayed his sentiments in an open letter to the NRA, via the Hartford Courant.

As a lifelong career criminal, although I no longer enjoy the right to keep and bear arms, I'd like to take a moment to express my appreciation to the National Rifle Association for nonetheless protecting my ability to easily obtain them through its opposition to universal background checks.

Upon release in a few years from my current federal sentence on bank robbery and weapons charges, I fully anticipate being able to stop at a gun show on my way home to Connecticut -- where new laws have made it nearly impossible for a felon to readily purchase guns or ammunition -- in order to buy some with which to resume my criminal activities.

And so, a heartfelt thank you to the NRA and all those members of Congress voting with them. I, along with tens of thousands of other criminals, couldn't do what we do without you.

Gary W. Bornman

Mr. Bornman is serving time for robbing a bank. He seems to have a bit of a hobby of writing provocative but thought-provoking letters to newspaper editorial boards.

Re: Convict to NRA: Thanks for Making It Easy for Us Criminals

Originally Posted by T-Rexx

Gary W. Bornman, a convict at the federal "supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, has written a thank you note to the NRA. Mr. Bornman relayed his sentiments in an open letter to the NRA, via the Hartford Courant.

Mr. Bornman is serving time for robbing a bank. He seems to have a bit of a hobby of writing provocative but thought-provoking letters to newspaper editorial boards.

Except that it's hard to find an NRA member who won't just walk a prospective purchaser over to a vendor at the gun show and get a background check done anyway -- and at the gun shows I've been to, anyone turned down on a purchase for being a felon is likely to face a citizen's arrest by an NRA member on the spot.

"Thirty-one* states allow all qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons. In those states, homosexuals should embark on organized efforts to become comfortable with guns, learn to use them safely and carry them. They should set up Pink Pistols task forces, sponsor shooting courses and help homosexuals get licensed to carry. And they should do it in a way that gets as much publicity as possible. "

Re: Convict to NRA: Thanks for Making It Easy for Us Criminals

Originally Posted by Kulindahr

Except that it's hard to find an NRA member who won't just walk a prospective purchaser over to a vendor at the gun show and get a background check done anyway -- and at the gun shows I've been to, anyone turned down on a purchase for being a felon is likely to face a citizen's arrest by an NRA member on the spot.

Re: Convict to NRA: Thanks for Making It Easy for Us Criminals

Originally Posted by Kulindahr

Except that it's hard to find an NRA member who won't just walk a prospective purchaser over to a vendor at the gun show and get a background check done anyway -- and at the gun shows I've been to, anyone turned down on a purchase for being a felon is likely to face a citizen's arrest by an NRA member on the spot.

Unfortunately, the facts don't seem to reflect such experiences. Studies show consistently that the majority of guns used in crime are acquired through private sales, and that guns used in crime are frequently traced from states with less gun laws.

In more than 40 states, criminals and other prohibited purchasers can avoid background checks
by buying handguns or long guns from unlicensed “private sellers”—often at gun shows or through anonymous online transactions—who are not required by federal law to conduct them. An estimated 6.6 million guns are sold each year without a background check.

The background check system is missing many relevant records, particularly records of individuals who are prohibited due to serious mental illness. Nineteen states have submitted fewer than 100 mental health records.

Without authorization to conduct a background check, private sellers have no way of knowing if they are selling to a prohibited purchaser. In fact,undercover investigations conducted by New York City in 2009 and 2011 found that 63 percent of private sellers at gun shows and 62 percent of private online sellers were willing to sell a gun to someone even when he said he probably couldn’t pass a background check.

Gun trafficking, gun suicide, and gun murders associated with domestic violence are all less prevalent in the few states that already require background checks for all handgun sales.

The number of women killed with a firearm by an intimate partner is 38 percent lower in states that require background checks on all handgun sales, even though the non-firearm homicide rates of women by their intimate partners are nearly identical.

The firearm suicide rate is 49 percent lower in states that require background checks on all handgun sales, even though the non-firearm suicide rates are nearly identical.

Re: Convict to NRA: Thanks for Making It Easy for Us Criminals

Kulindahr, Your account is anecdotal and contradicts the reports about the ease of obtaining firearms at these gun shows. Nice touch though about how NRA members are "responsible" citizens.

There's a serious disconnect between the behavior of the leadership and that of the members, in the NRA as well as in America at large.

Though I wouldn't credit the desire to make sure they don't sell to a felon and getting any felons who try arrested to being "responsible" citizens so much as to hating criminals and feeling macho about catching one.

"Thirty-one* states allow all qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons. In those states, homosexuals should embark on organized efforts to become comfortable with guns, learn to use them safely and carry them. They should set up Pink Pistols task forces, sponsor shooting courses and help homosexuals get licensed to carry. And they should do it in a way that gets as much publicity as possible. "

Re: Convict to NRA: Thanks for Making It Easy for Us Criminals

Originally Posted by andysayshi

Unfortunately, the facts don't seem to reflect such experiences. Studies show consistently that the majority of guns used in crime are acquired through private sales, and that guns used in crime are frequently traced from states with less gun laws.

And that the number of guns purchased at gun shows by criminals is virtually nil -- so the facts do support that experience.

Last edited by Kulindahr; June 13th, 2013 at 07:32 PM.

"Thirty-one* states allow all qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons. In those states, homosexuals should embark on organized efforts to become comfortable with guns, learn to use them safely and carry them. They should set up Pink Pistols task forces, sponsor shooting courses and help homosexuals get licensed to carry. And they should do it in a way that gets as much publicity as possible. "

Re: Convict to NRA: Thanks for Making It Easy for Us Criminals

It takes little effort to post here while watching the evening news, carrying on a conversation with others in the house, and eating dinner.

"Thirty-one* states allow all qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons. In those states, homosexuals should embark on organized efforts to become comfortable with guns, learn to use them safely and carry them. They should set up Pink Pistols task forces, sponsor shooting courses and help homosexuals get licensed to carry. And they should do it in a way that gets as much publicity as possible. "

Re: Convict to NRA: Thanks for Making It Easy for Us Criminals

Losing a good part of my ability to multitask has affected my life more than anything else has.

You'd truly envy my older brother -- he used to be able to play a game of chess along with those other items.

"Thirty-one* states allow all qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons. In those states, homosexuals should embark on organized efforts to become comfortable with guns, learn to use them safely and carry them. They should set up Pink Pistols task forces, sponsor shooting courses and help homosexuals get licensed to carry. And they should do it in a way that gets as much publicity as possible. "